announce an ambitious streetcar plan. plus, a wakeup call. the city says police are about to crackdown on subway sleeping. we're still drying out from the downpours this morning. storm team 4 tracking some snow. "today in new york" starts now. good morning everyone. it's thursday morning, february 4th. i'm darlene rodriguez. i'm michael gargiulo. storm team 4's chris cimino here with forecast. chris, somewhat surprising given the temperatures this morning. >> we're not tracking snow right now at 58 degrees. it will be quite some time before we track some snow. it will be after the evening hours. right now, very, very mild. this time of the year, 58 in chelsea, 57 in city island. it's 57 in poughkeepsie. even monticello at 52. most of new jersey 50s and a few 40s across long island. the main part of the rain has pushed east. a little batch is redeveloping

in nassau and suffolk county, it could be wet and soggy. a few sprinkles in new jersey early on today. the clouds linger for the most part. temperatures stay mild. we'll drop back to the lower 50s and hover in the low to mid-50s this afternoon. then it starts to turn colder this afternoon. then that chance much rain going over to snow overnight. the first check on this morning commute. the roads are damp. >> roads are still doing okay. we have changes on the subways if we're headed out. uptown 2 and 4 trains are running express. delays on downtown d and f trains. that's all due to track maintenance. we have overnight track work on the 1, 2, 6, a, e. df and j. more weather and traffic on the 4s. thank you, lauren. the state of the city address will be delivered tonight. one of the biggest announcements will be a throwback to the old days of new york city, a streetcar. katherine creag is in downtown brooklyn with more. kat, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, darlene.

it's a good idea. you talk about a throwback to the old days of when new york city had a trolley. she remembers waiting forever the trolley with her mom way back when. when you're looking here, this would be. there would be a rail along j street, up and down j street. that streetcar would travel. in fact, one of the artist renderings shows the streetcar on j street where we are here in the metro tech area. other images show that streetcar in other parts of brooklyn. some are scribing in as a -- it would real i will hug the waterfront and it would cause 2 $1/2 billion. you'll here more about this during the state of the city this evening. one woman we talked with, she remembers the trolleys very well. this is what she had to say. take a listen. >> it's something new and

good for the last generation that's out now, the kids that are out now. it would be something new for them. >> reporter: what you will also hear from mayor de blasio, adding solar energy. he wants to push the project to have solar panels on 88 buildings across the city, including bellevue hospital, the queens museum, schools as well, darlene. but a lot of people talking about what would be here. that streetcar, j street it would go along the waterfront by dumbo and then up to astoria queens and awaiting to see what other people think about it as well. >> thank you, kat. mayor de blasio also expected to announce new development plans for governor's island. the mayor wants mixed use facilities, including a cultural center. the development may be geared towards technology, education and business uses. accused of fatally shooting a man could take the stand.

its final witness, then the defense may call officer peter liang to testify. liang's partier ier ner was on the stand tuesday. most of the roads flooded during the evening commute should be cleared for the morning drive. the southbound lanes of route 20 had to be shut down in paterson, new jersey last night. public crews work were wading up to 2 feet of water. the heavy rain and snowmelt filled roads in lodi with water and made it difficult for some drivers to see. 4:34. time for weather and traffic on the 4s. chris, it was like steady and coming down yesterday. >> that's what we were concerned snowmelting. no additional heavy rain anticipated for today. there's still a few leftover showers and sprinkles. sprinkles from the city on west, across portions of long island,

in the 50s for most of the day. tonight, a rain going over to a mixture of rain and eventually wet snow towards morning. we'll talk more about that. here's concentration offshore and portions of suffolk county into connecticut as well. that's where the line of significant showers if you want to call it creates some puddles. otherwise, a few sprinkles from the city on west. mostly cloudy, very mild, 58. we'll start to see the temperature drop in the next few hours. rest of the forecast just ahead. commute. >> no issues on the roads. bus detours. the bx 15 elemented to new york city and bus routes 83 and 168 are on detour in new jersey. the hugh l. carey tunnel, the west tube is closed. the east tube is taking two-way traffic. alternate side of the street

nypd officers are told to keep an eye out for sleepy subway riders. police commissioner bratton says people dozing off in the trains is contributing to crime. tracie strahan is in midtown where one rider fell asleep and became a victim, tracie. >> reporter: michael, the man that police believe was behind the attack was last seen at the subway station on lexington avenue running after apparently holding a razor over a man who had fallen asleep. the numbers show that crimes on rise. officers and the top cop are warning rileders to simply -- rider to simply stay awake. they're looking for this man. the first late sunday night where the suspect pulled out a knife and slashed a victim in the hand during a tussle over a cell phone. the latest incident, early tuesday morning where a 37-year-old man awoke to find the suspect standing over him with a razor and the pocket of his jeans slashed.

says crime overall is down. commissioner bratton, however, says officers will be waking up passengers since half of the reported crimes on the subway involve people who have fallen asleep. >> we want to be very engaged in encouraging that if you use the subways, you might miss your stop, you might lose your wallet or iphone. might be the subject of a sexual assault. why put yourself at that risk? each though we increase our patrols and plainclothes, i want to encourage in this area, give us some help if you will. see something, say something. we'll look into that also. >> the nypd does say for the month of january, subway crimes are up. 206 reported lats month. that's up from 151 last year, michael. as you can imagine, a comment like that from the commissioner thwarting controversy amongst commuters. we see people who often fall asleep.

see what they think about this. >> as you were reporting this, everyone in the studio says who among us hasn't slept on the subway? it's only natural. >> reporter: exactly, michael. people are saying this could lead to confrontations between commuters and police as well. >> tracie, thank you very much. it all comes as police are trying to identify yet another subway attacker. police say the man seen slashed a person in harlem last sunday. the suspect was apparently waiting for the victim who had gotten into a dispute with a woman on a train. commissioner bratton once again telling riders to avoid arguments wherever possible. it's always best he says to walk away. >> searching for four suspected algerian jihadis, a berlin spokesperson said one received military training in syria.

news 4 learned that police conducted the raids in three german states. they fear the min are planning attacks. martin shkreli is expected to testify about the rising cost of prescription drugs. lawmakers want to ask him about the price boost he ordered last year for a life-saving drug. of the former ceo says he wants to berate members of congress. instead, he's vowing to say nothing. he's going to invoke his fifth amendment rights. new hampshire's primary five days away, the two top republican candidate are feuding over iowa results. donald trump tweeted -- ted cruz sent out mailing toss scare voters. meanwhile, cruz apologized after claims that his camp sent rumors that carson was quitting.

>> donald is throwing another temper tantrum or if you like another trummer tantrum. >> he called the rumors of withdrawal dirty tricks. marco rubio said cruz would do anything to win. rick santorum finished near the bottom. yesterday he threw his support to senator marco rubio calling rubio a born leelder. also senator rand paul called it quits and went back to work in washington. tonight, in new hampshire the first primary state, the two democratic candidate will debate head to head. they're agreeing to a face-off on msnbc. the candidates appeared last night in another televised forum where they faced questions over who is the true progressive candidate. >> we share a lot of the same big progressive goals, but we have different ways of going about them.

who has a super pac and takes $15 million from wall street. >> a democrats agreed to have three more debates. the schedule will run through may. you can watch coverage of the debate at 9:00 p.m. on msnbc. you can also head to nbcnews.com. the sexual assault case against bill cosby will move forward meaning a trial could be next. a pennsylvania judge ruled there was no deal between prosecutors and cosby not to press criminal charges against him. it stems from allegations that cosby drugged and molested her in 2004. cosby's team will appeal yesterday's decision. 4:41. ahead, the shocking comment that a rider says a metro-north conductor made over the speaker. new life for a piece of american history that could become the next tourist attraction in new york. it's nearly 60 degrees this morning. wow. >> what is happening to our earth? storm team 4 is tracking changes. we're going to have weather and

>> that's a valid question. don't forget, follow us on facebook, twitter and instagram. michaelg4ny and darlene4ny. you're watching "today in new york." [car starting] [engine revving]

it's 4:43 here. here are four things to know this morning. mayor de blasio is expected to propose a $2.5 billion streetcar plan during his state of the city address. it would run along the east river waterfront between brooklyn and queens. the nypd police officer, peter liang could take the stand in his own trial. he's charged in the shooting death of akai gurley who was unarmed when the officer opened fire on him. more than 158,000 dirt devil vacuums are being recalled because of a shock hazard. it includes many of the pet cyclonic upright vacuum. dirt devil is offering free replacements. after a drawn-out fight, a

amsterdam avenue. the new lane will mean a new traffic configuration. the four-lane road will be down to three lanes. 4:44 on this thursday morning. that's the real temperature you're looking at. 58 degrees in the city. anywhere you go throughout the suburbs temperatures are in the 50s this morning. a very mild start. it will gradual little cool down going through time. early sprinkles and maybe a couple of showers, especially east of the city this morning. the return of some rain overnight will go over to some wet snow, especially from the city on east. the weekend looks great, though. with a good deal of sunshine both saturday and sunday. temperatures well up into the 40s. last 24 hours, we've warmed up even more. 13 degrees warmer this morning. how about danbury, 23 degrees warmer at this hour compared to 24 hours ago. 18 degrees warmer newburgh and white plains. 10 to 20 degrees warmer this

56 in stony kill. hopewell junction, 55. that's up in the hudson valley to be so mild. 58 in the city. seeing a few 40s in central portions of new jersey. the cool spot bridgewater at 41 degrees right now. the rain moved offshore. there's a batch of rain lingering behind this front. it's moving quickly to the east. in the meantime, you can see a few sprinkles in new jersey. these could move into the city. any shower activity to eastern long island for the early morning hours. future tracker shows the -- the clouds thin out for a time during the mid afternoon hours. we may get a little sunshine before they return as the next wave of low pressure forms on that front. could see a couple of light rain showers return at 8:00 or 9:00. especially from the city on east. a more solid area of rainey vofls. then colder air. the rain goes over to snow. from the city on east, best chance of any snow on grassy areas and colder surfaces.

where the bands of moderate snow may be confined to in the morning. this is 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. it's out of the city but still snowing in suffolk county. perhaps even across the twin forks as late as noon. that's the best chance of getting accumulation out of this. the storm will form along that front, this is a stationary boundary. track will be critical as to how close the snow gets to the city or how far it pushes inland. from the city on south and east, maybe coastal new jersey, rain going over to light snow overnight and toward tomorrow morning. a slushy accumulation. roads are too warm. the roads won't be anything but wet. 54 for the mid afternoon highs today. generally 50 to 55 towards the north and west. the colder air moves in tonight. the rain breaks out. changes over to a period of wet snow. ends tomorrow morning early. clearing in the afternoon, 42. weekend looks great. in the 40s. then colder weather next week. 37 on monday. going to watch another possible coastal storm and touch of snow late monday into tuesday. let's find out what lauren scala is watching for the commute so far this morning.

we'll start with i a live look at the long island expressway where you have roadwork by the grand central parkway. we have the roadwork out there again overnight from 10:30 to 5:30 every day during the week. the south tube will be closed the and the north tube taking on two-way traffic. route 139, the covered roadway is closed between jersey avenue and tonnelle avenue. if you need to get to the holland, avoid this area. uptown 2 and 4 trains running express from franklin avenue to atlantic avenue. then there are delays on downtown d and f trains. major commuter lines look good. more weather and traffic on the 4s. >> lauren, thank you very much. it's 4:48. the mfa investigating a vulgar remark made about a student's suicide in the bronx. some commuters heard that

address system after a fordham prep student jumped on to the tracks at the botanical gardens station on monday. the worker state "someone got killed. i hope the, expletive here, suffered." there was no agreement made in a meeting last night between nj transit, leadership and members of the unions. they've been working without a contract for five years. they agreed to a strike. they could walk off the job on march 13th. we want to show you new video of a robbery in brooklyn. thieves targeted a store that stayed open during the blizzard. it happened last month during the heavy snowfall. one suspect shoved a gun in the clerk's face. they took cash from the register and ran off in the midst of storm. if you have any information, you are asked to call police.

now patrol the streets of newark. it follows a rash of homicides there. ras baraka announcing the partnership as part of a 45-day plan to fight crime. 14 people were killed in homicides already this year. the plan that newark police, fire department and the office of emergency management will all be reorganized now into one department. the parents of ean e etan paets -- they now believe it was pedro hernandez, not jose ramos who killed their son after he went missing in 1979. ramos was never charged. but a civil court held him responsible for the boy's death. a second trial for hernandez is set for next month. the first one ended with a deadlocked jury. tomorrow, wikileaks founder, julian assange may surrender to british police. he's still holed up in the

he appealed to the u.n. about his situation. if they rule against him, he will turn himself in. he fears he could end up extradited here to the united states. his wikileaks group released volumes of u.s. government documents. robert durst, he now will be transferred to california. he's going to stand trial for allegedly murdering his friend. he pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal gun charge in new orleans. he agreed to an 85-month prison sentence. he's going to serve that time in a federal prison near los angeles while awaiting his murder trial. he's accused of killing his friend susan berman in the year 2000 zifrnlts former governor rick scott will update on the zika virus. miami-dade, legal, en comings ft. myers, hillsborough and tampa and santa rosa county.

of the zika virus. the recall of vehicles may have faulty airbags. the move includes more than 2 million cars in the u.s. built with takata airbags. it comes after at least ten deaths were linked to that airbag. including nine in the united states. those nine deaths were in honda vehicles. honda alone is now recalled 8.5 million vehicles with the airbags. happening today, the distress call for the largest ocean liner built on american soil may be answered here in new york city. a conservancy group are set to make an announcement on the ship. it's now docked in philadelphia. there's been talk to bring it to new york and turn it into a floating museum and possibly a hotel. >> lot of work to do. >> yeah, when we say dilapidated. it's in disrepair, right? >> 4:52 now.

out west is the subject now of a lawsuit. plus, not a great start to tax season. the problem the irs is trying to fix. what could be coming to make the bus stop wait more tolerable.

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welcome back. 4:55. lady liberty there on this thursday morning. we check weather and traffic on the 4s. >> i guess. there was some fog on the roads. very thick fog in some cases. >> again, because of the rain, we had the melting snow and warm air over the cold snow creates fog. that's why we had that issue. eventually, we may even see the clouds break up temporarily for a little bit of sunshine. as mild as yesterday starting

33 by morning. that means colder air is pushing in. we've got a little storm moving up the coast. we'll have rain redevelop. from the city on east, any type of accumulating snow looks to be confined to eastern long island. there's a shift in the track of the storm that has an impact of the storm. 45 and then 46 with more sunshine on sunday. certainly look forward to this weekend. pretty nice. sounds -- >> lauren, what do we have to look forward to this morning. >> mostly clear roads. no major problems. we have our first incident out there of the morning. a disabled vehicle on the bqe heading eastbound. that's in the right lane. watch out for that. we take a live look outside at the george washington bridge where things are moving along nicely. the lower level has reopened. we have roadwork there but you'll need your e-zpass until

thanks, lauren. commuters will have the countdown clocks to let them know when a subway train is coming. many more are coming for city buses. there are 30 of the clocks city wide. the installation of 350 more will be announced today. the signs will use data from the mta's system which also has a smartphone app. >> one california lottery winner is on the verge of missing out on a $63 million jackpot. officials say that winner has until 5:00 p.m. today to claim the prize. the winning ticket sold back in august, one man says he purchased that ticket but lottery officials rejected his claim saying his ticket was too damaged to be reconstructed. now, he says he filed a lawsuit over it. lottery officials say they're not aware of any such lawsuit. a crash in california, a car land on top of a roof. a man did suffer a medical issue while driving and crashed into a parked car at 4:00 yesterday

they say the force of the crash launched his lexus on to the roof of a detached garage. firefighters were able to get the man out of vehicle that brought him to the hospital. crews had to take a crane out to get that lexus off the roof. the terror group al shabab may be responsible for the blast that blew a hole in an airliner over africa. that's what u.s. intelligence is saying privately about that deadly attack. the huge hole was caused by -- >> one passenger fell to his death. the plane plangd to land safely in somalia after this midair explosion. a drifting cargo ship no longer -- it was safely towed into port in spain. that ship was abandoned by its crew in the atlantic. it was dangerously listing. they say the so-called moving mountain came within 30 miles of crashing to the shoreline. >> this is a big problem with the irs and could affect her tax refund. a glitch shut down the

yesterday. you can still e-file your returns using middleman companies like turbo tax. but those companies will actually hold the return until the irs systems are back up and working again. that could be as early as today. the irs expects most refunds, though, to be paid within three weeks. people love the e-filing. you're not mailing all that paperback. >> you want easy and no pain. >> absolutely not. coming up on 5:00 a.m., if you're about to head out the door, take us with you. >> keep watching "today in new york." download the "news 4 new york" app on your mobile device. the next hour starts right now. right now, a new subway crackdown. the nypd trying to protect people by waking them up. what's old is new again. this morning, details of the plan to build a new streetcar in new york city. >> you might say it's getting ugly. how ted cruz is responding to allegations of voter fraud in

"today in new york" starts now.